Back to Work

I'm recently back from a conference that was really good. Plus, it was really good to get away. Now the reality of getting back to work.

I had 3 days of work this week, and on 1 day we were 2 staff down. The rest of us had to cover the patients. It was a really bad day- I had two hours when I had so many patients stroke patients at the same time that no one got good care at all. That really eats me up- by the end of the day I wanted to quit.

Today was better, thankfully. And I have an interesting new patient- just about the most apraxic I have ever seen. When a patient is "interesting," it is never good for the patient. If you are a patient, you want your situation to be mild and boring.

I "only" stayed 1 hour late today- which to me felt like getting out early. We don't get any allocated time for paperwork, phonecalls, equipment orders, etc. We are expected to do this during treatment sessions, and then stay extra as necessary. But unless I have a very high level patient, I don't usually get any notes done during treatment time.

I'm in a complaining mood, so I'd better stop here. Healthcare is what it is. And I want everyone to get excellent care, and get all the care they need, and get better. And I don't want to have to put in long hours for paperwork. And I don't want to have to take a pay cut so that we can increase staffing levels or have dedicated hours for paperwork. I want the impossible.

Mostly I wish I could afford to work part time for a while. But that's not an option. Plus, I need health insurance!